Tiger Woods won the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship by two strokes to secure his second title in four U.S. PGA Tour starts this season.
Woods shot a 1-under-par 71 during today’s final round at the TPC Blue Monster at Doral in Miami, Florida, and finished with a four-round total of 19-under 269. Steve Stricker was second at 17-under par, three shots better than Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott.
It’s the 17th career World Golf Championships title for Woods and his first since the 2009 Bridgestone Invitational. The WGC Cadillac Championship becomes the fourth tournament he’s won at least seven times and pushes his career PGA Tour win total to 76, six behind Sam Snead for the most all-time.
“It was one of those weeks where I felt good about how I was playing, made some putts and pretty much got it rolling,” Woods, 37, said at the trophy presentation ceremony.
Woods, the No. 2-ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, has now won five tournaments in his past 19 PGA Tour starts. He’s scheduled to play one more event -- the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 21-24 in Orlando -- ahead of the Masters Tournament. The first major championship of the season, the Masters is scheduled for April 11-14 at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia.
Woods opened the tournament with a 6-under 66, making nine birdies to grab a share of the lead. He followed with rounds of 65 and 67 to take a four-shot advantage over McDowell into today’s final round.
27 Birdies
Woods birdied two of his first four holes today and then added his 27th of the tournament at the 10th hole, one off his record of 28 birdies at the 2007 Tour Championship and the 2006 Buick Open. He dropped two shots with a pair of bogeys over the final eight holes, including one on the 18th.
Woods has now won 51 of 55 times in which he’s had at least a share of the lead entering the final round.
This is the first time Woods has won two PGA Tour events in a season prior to the Masters since 2008, when he claimed the last of his 14 major championships at the U.S. Open.
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy, who started with a first-round 73, closed with a 7-under 65 to finish tied for eighth place at 10 under. He was one stroke over par through his first 46 holes and played the final 26 in 11 under.
Also today, Scott Brown recorded his first PGA Tour win at the Puerto Rico Open. Brown, 29, birdied the final hole to finish one shot ahead of Jordan Spieth and Fabian Gomez, who held a one-stroke advantage before bogeying the final hole.
The PGA Tour now moves to Palm Harbor, Florida, for the $5.5 million Tampa Bay Championship at the Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead course from March 14-17. The Arnold Palmer Invitational will be played the following week at Bay Hill Club & Lodge, followed by the Shell Houston Open, which is the last PGA Tour event before the Masters.
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